Join us on the road to London Jazz Festival
Our young musicians perform at Wired Up, Rich Mix, Shoreditch. Photo credit: Keith Sykes
For the past few months, our London Jazz Festival collective have been busy in workshops and rehearsals, creating original music for their performance at the festival on Sunday 17 November.
This year, the group is responding to the theme of Human vs Machine, thinking about both the positives and pitfalls of technology’s interception with humanity, from its impact on our social lives and culture, to how we make music. The 22 young musucians in our collective have looked at the idea of human connection, and how AI can provide alternatives to this.
Some of the first lyrics we worked on as a group, responding to the Human vs AI theme
From the first taster sessions, the group began to respond to the ideas of AI and the insecurities that come from growing up in a digital world. We began workshopping lyrics dealing with exposure to social media and the pressures of hype, clout and popularity. Since our first sessions, these lyrics have continued to be developed, and we’re excited to share them on Sunday.
One stand-out song we’ll be performing at the festival is called Echo, about making an AI friend. Echo is infused with a jazz influence thanks to an improvisation section of solos. Echoes run through the track with the trumpets and sax calling back to each other's parts, with elements of big band jazz in bringing all of the instruments together. Across the group’s set, we’ve incorporated classic jazz, soul and singer-songwriter approaches.
After our initial workshops, we invited in our guest artists GeeJay to spend some time with the group. They performed three songs and then spoke to small groups of our collective, listening and giving tips and advice on songwriting and performing.
One of the music leaders asked about how to be resilient in the music industry and J reinforced the message to keep going. He shared a quote about giving anything you’re trying to do 10,000 hours of your time, and that if you do that with anything, you’ll be a master.
Our young musicians spend the day with our guest artists Gee Jay, discussing creating original music and approaches to songwriting.
A quick icebreaker before we work as a group to discuss our London Jazz Festival tracks
Some of our young people had recently visited recording studios and asked them about tips for recording. G reflected that she struggles to feel relaxed in the studio and has to turn the lights out and take her shoes off to help her get comfortable. Whereas J thrives in a studio environment, with G saying that he is “in his element”.
Our young musicians receiving songwriting guidance ahead of their festival performance.
When asked about tips to overcome writers’ block, J responded: “Take time out, take a break and do something completely different, don’t force it.” While G said: “I like to take time out and sit on the top deck of a bus with a notepad, observing the world around me.”
Finally, GeeJay shared a work-in-progress song they are writing, about the experience of having their daughter, called ‘Proud’. Our young people found it incredibly helpful to hear a song at this stage of creation. The song wasn’t finished or perfect, but many of our young people said that this was their favourite of their three performances.
"Watching [GeeJay] perform, seeing how much they got into it and enjoyed the music. LIke we thought ‘we want to have that much fun too’.”
— Jude and Callie, ArtsTrain participants
Our young musicians perform at Wired Up, Rich Mix, Shoreditch. Photo credit: Keith Sykes
At the end of October, our group headed over to the Wired Up night at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, to share their original tracks on stage for the first time. The group had a brilliant night performing, amongst a line-up of other London young artists, making for a really supportive and encouraging atmosphere for everyone.
“I had a most enjoyable time last night. The young people from ArtsTrain were amazing with their musical skills, energy and confidence. I wish them all the best for their upcoming performance at the festival.”
— Amanda Ross, Communities Officer – London South Region Clarion Futures
We’ve had a fantastic few months putting a lot of work into our new tracks, and we can’t wait to share them with you this Sunday at the EFG London Jazz Festival. Join us in the Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival hall, at 3.45pm. It’s free entry and families are welcome!
Find out more about our performance at the EFG London Jazz Festival.